


pools of gold & lavender

by ordanary



Category: Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF)
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Panic! At the disco song fic, dan is a sad moon, its based off of a bunch of pretty. odd. songs could u tell, sun and moon au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-26
Updated: 2018-08-26
Packaged: 2019-07-02 19:50:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,175
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15803418
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ordanary/pseuds/ordanary
Summary: Phil is the day, Dan is the night. The latter had tried to keep them distanced, but when a pesky shooting star causes them to cross paths, it becomes quite clear that distance is the last thing he really wants.





	pools of gold & lavender

**Author's Note:**

> Hi !! This was written for @phandomficfests’ ‘fic you’re afraid to write’ flash fest (and yes, I know this is A LOT more than 500 words). 
> 
> I’ve had this as a wip sitting in my google docs for months simply because I was afraid to finish it. Last night after seeing what today’s fic fest would be, I decided that I needed to push through and finish this for myself, even if I didn’t want to publish it (but here we are, so yay !) 
> 
> Anyway, thank you for listening to my bullshit and I hope you enjoy :)
> 
> P.S. this is based off of a few songs from Panic! At The Disco’s album Pretty. Odd., which I’m a slut for, so have a good time with that.

When thinking of the moon, a person’s fragile and mundane mind tended to drift to images of a greyish orb in the dark of the night, accompanied by all the billions upon billions of bright stars and constellations of the alabaster sky. From their minuscule place on Earth, someone might dream up fantasies of a life more complex and advanced than their own, a narrative detailing a world up above the trees and burrowed amongst the soft clouds. 

And though he could imagine that those humans weren’t far off in the worlds they’d dreamt up, Dan didn’t believe they could even begin to really fathom what was going on up there. 

You see, nothing is ever as simple as it seems when you’re on the outside looking in. When the glass that separates two worlds is translucent and thick, covered in an unmoving wispy mist, it’s difficult to get the entire story without at the very least a minor distortion. Science is what they called it down there, but if they only knew the truth then they’d find so much more magic in every grain of soil and every gust of wind. If only they could see past the mist, Dan wished. 

The night had always been a time for making wishes. Whether it be on the first star that Dan decided to showcase that night or the pesky comet that escaped his grasp, there was always something to wish on and something to wish for. 

Dan thrived off of this, off of making people happy and filling them with hope. Even if he didn’t have the power to validate their dreams and make their wishes come true, he at least got to fill their souls with contentment until the rising of the bright sun in the early dawn. However it wasn’t always as lovey as one might think. Dan was still part human, and he still had the capability to feel human emotions. He felt love, and happiness, and more often than not, he felt sadness. And sometimes that very sadness reflected down into the night sky below him, making stars disappear and filling children with a deep fear of darkness that made Dan feel guiltier than anything else in the entire universe. 

If he himself could be granted one wish, it would be for all on Earth to understand the world above them, to see the magic and mystery unfold and perhaps make them less afraid. Less afraid of the unexplained, less afraid of the afterlife, less afraid of the world. 

But in order to maintain balance, that wasn’t possible. Everything on Earth and above had its own role in the universe, a task however big or small to carry out within their lifetime, however long that may be. 

Dan’s role was technically the farthest from simple. He was the night, he spun stars around his fingers and blew kisses of comfort down at the billions of dreaming people each night. He dimmed the grand lights and then re-illuminated them with intricate constellations, arrangements in the night sky that had helped so many find their way during his long shift. He listened carefully as little children whispered secrets into his ear and provided a cloak for those whose secrets were too important to be uttered aloud.

And though Dan was perhaps one of the most instrumental pieces in making the world go round, his job was easy enough to make him yawn, however ironic that may be. All he had to do was think it, and it was set for the rest of time. Stars were a given, and one or two flying comets every so often was a nice treat. A few clouds here and there, a rainfall in this region and clear sky in that one. It was simple, and it was routine. Of course, Dan would get bored with routine every once in a while and strike up the northern lights, calling on aurora borealis to kindly perform her gorgeous dance on his dark stage. 

It was never quite boring, but it was never quite a thrill, either. Though Dan held the company of the entire nighttime universe in the palm of his hand, he was lonely. 

Especially as he sat at the edge of a small, dark pool in the clouds, stirring lavender galaxies with the tip of his finger and humming to himself quietly, feeling nothing but alone. His luminescent stars swam happily around in the magical pool, following no path as they made their own way through the swirling colours of his model midnight sky. 

From where he was sitting with his back to the rest of the clouds, Dan gazed into his pool and wished he could dive in and swim in its boundless depths for the rest of eternity. He was having one of his bad days, the kind of day when his head was a bit more foggy and bit less interested in anything but the subject of his own misfortune. His usually soft, brown eyes were faded to a dark grey, and the very tips of his curly hair were slowly becoming enveloped by a hungry black, leaving only the roots as their usual brunette. He could already tell that he wouldn’t be able to muster up the spirit and creativity it usually took to fill the night with exciting lights, or shooting stars– he just wasn’t in the mood. 

Focusing back on the whirlpool of mystery before him, Dan watched curiously as one of his favourite stars began to morph slowly, eventually sprouting a tail of fire until it was no longer a star, but a comet. 

Dan frowned slightly at the metamorphosis that had just taken place before his own dull eyes. That had been his favourite star, and now she was going to fly away and be on her own if she so chose to be. 

And as the little comet began to grasp ahold of her new form, she decided to take advantage of it, shooting up and out of the pool and flying around in circles in front of Dan, who in turn tried to reach out and grab the feisty flying star. She was too fast though, and before Dan could even reach his fingertips out far enough to brush the comet’s tail, she was flying quickly away from him and towards an area of the clouds that Dan wouldn’t normally even dream of passing through, but damn it, he wanted his favourite star back. 

He quickly stood to his bare feet, nearly tripping but just barely catching himself as he pushed off the soft ground with his pale hand. He instantly began to chase after the cheeky celestial being, calling after it desperately. 

“Hey, come back!” He hollered, of course receiving no response. 

Dan continued to follow the comet, even as she eventually crossed into daytime, a place where Dan would usually never find himself. As the usual jars of glittery stardust that usually lined the cloud pathways began to transform into shockingly bright flowers, Dan made sure not to step on any of them, seeing as the last thing he’d like to come from any of this was his polar opposite despising him. Gods, he’d stayed as far away as possible from him for so long in fear of somehow disturbing the balance, he didn’t want to mess that up now. 

Continuing to chase her down the florally lined path, Dan ran until the comet entered a large garden filled to the brim with vibrant flowers of all kind, some tall and swaying in the wind, others smaller and providing nectar for the few bumblebees in the area. At one end of the garden, roots buried amongst hundreds of yellow and blue flower petals, a large willow tree stood tall and proud, silently demanding respect from all whose eyes met it’s cascading green leaves. Nearly hidden amongst all the elegant beauty of the colourful garden, sat at a table woven from the vines of some beautiful flowering plant that Dan didn’t know the name of, was another man, another entity, another world. 

As he sat at his table and drank from a delicate teacup designed with intricate patterns, Dan knew he was looking right at the day, at the sun– at Phil. Distracted by the quite literally ethereal entity before him, Dan tripped over seemingly nothing, landing hard on his bottom and digging his fingers into the cushion of fluffy cloud beneath him. He quickly pulled himself up again, knowing that if he didn’t completely mess this first encounter up then he’d at least have ruined his introduction, not that he’d ever had anything special planned. 

Dan stood frozen in the garden, legs restless and ready to bolt in the case that his comet decided to move from her current position where she was orbiting Phil as she’d been taught so long ago. Planets orbit the sun, and even though she wasn’t exactly a planet like Jupiter or her brother, Saturn, this little star-turned-comet had always been a bit full of herself. Who was Dan to complain, as long as she stayed out long enough for him to catch her. 

“Hello, Dan,” Phil greeted him as stared helplessly at the image before him. Phil had an aura to him, it was bright yellow and seemed to grow by the slightest bit when he’d said Dan’s human name, but maybe the aforementioned had just imagined that. Each force that made the Earth spin round the way it did had a human name, one that made it far easier to make small talk and give personality to task. 

Dan swallowed, his mouth feeling suddenly dry. “Phil, I . . .” What was he supposed to say? An apology for chasing a completely replaceable star into an area that he wasn’t welcome in? That sounded about right in his head, but he feared it might come out wrong once it left his lips. 

As his eyes shifted nervously between the sun and his comet, Dan began to feel scared. What if Phil was unkind? What if he was angry at Dan for intruding on his teatime and punished him by crushing his star? Thoughts like these made him feel the sudden urge to fall to the clouds below him and cry, but he was trying his best to leave a good impression. 

Phil followed his gaze to Dan’s comet, who was still religiously orbiting above his head. “Do you want your creation back?” He asked, pointing an impossibly pale finger up at the celestial body above him, chuckling quietly as she sped past his head fast enough to move strands of his black hair. 

Dan gave him a half smile, still a bit weary of the situation. From Phil’s tone, Dan was pretty sure that he didn’t mean his question as a threat of any kind, but one could never be too sure. Dan had dealt with plenty of criminals and tricksters under his night sky, and not all of them were terrible actors. 

“Yeah, I’m sorry about her. She’s just got her tail, and I think she’s a bit excited,” Dan finally answered, chancing a step closer to Phil’s vine woven table. 

Phil reached his arm up above his head, opening his palm wide to the endless universe above them and shooting Dan a simple smile before returning his attention to the comet. Dan watched in awe as a small cloud much like the kind beneath their feet began to sprout from Phil’s fingertips. The latter blew lightly on the fluffy, white cloud, watching as it enveloped Dan’s star in it’s comforting body. Phil then pulled the cloud down to rest in his cupped palms before his ocean blue eyes. 

“She’s beautiful,” he spoke quietly, as if not to disturb her suddenly tranquil state. 

Dan nodded, moving to lean down in front of Phil’s open palms. Though Dan had of course seen his own favourite star so many times before now, it still didn’t cease to amaze him just how breathtaking his little creation really was. 

“She really is,” agreed Dan. He stood once more, as did Phil. Dan’s dull, grey eyes met Phil’s vibrant, blue ones, the contrast so stunning though neither of them could tell. Eyes were an easy thing to get lost in, and if Dan didn’t watch out then he just might drown in Phil’s. 

Phil gently handed his little cage made of cloud to Dan, their fingers brushing for a millisecond only, though the electric sensation of his skin on Phil’s leaving Dan a little bit breathless. 

Before he could think overly clearly, he was sending his star back home with a flick of his wrist in the direction he’d come in. 

Now that there was no reason for Dan to be there, in Phil’s garden, he began to feel that strange fear again. Fear that maybe he was intruding on the sun’s busy life, a life in which he probably didn’t have time for the boring old moon. 

“I should probably be going now,” Dan said, his voice soft and a bit sad, but that wasn’t anything out of the ordinary. 

As he turned to leave, about to let the cloud below him carry his tired feet back home, he felt a warm hand on his shoulder, keeping him in place. “Wait.” It was odd. Dan knew he could move to leave anytime he’d like, but something about the feeling of Phil’s comforting touch made him feel the strong desire to stay put. 

Dan turned on his heel, facing his polar opposite with wide eyes and hands fiddling helplessly at his sides, playing with the hem of his black top. “Yeah?”

Releasing his hand on Dan’s shoulder, Phil instead moved it to brush tentatively down his arm, fingers continuing to trail slowly down until they entwined with Dan’s own shaky digits. 

“You’re miserable, aren’t you?” He asked, his blue eyes holding a sympathy like no other. One that didn’t make Dan feel like it was more pity than genuine emotion, which made it all the more tolerable. 

The corner of Dan’s lips twitched up to form a sad smile as he spoke his next sentence. “Not always, though. Sometimes I feel a bit happy.”

Phil frowned, using his other hand to brush through Dan’s curls, beginning at his brown roots and pulling downwards until his fingers landed on the still spreading black tips. “Oh,” he spoke, voice barely above a whisper. “But I want you to feel happy all the time.” 

And then he was leaning down and pressing his soft lips to Dan’s forehead, a small and barely there show of affection that left Dan feeling dizzy, but in the best way possible. When the sun pulled away, the moon looked at him in astonishment, pure wonder lighting up his eyes. Eyes that were now morphing from gloomy grey to their usual warm golden brown, the ends of his hair transitioning back to a similar shade to match. It was almost as if Dan could feel the darkness retreating from his body, leaving with him only serenity and magic. His bones felt lighter, the inside of his mouth tasted sweeter, and the air around him felt more certain, more full of promise for the next day times to come. 

And for the second time in Phil’s garden, Dan felt he could cry. No longer because of fear, but because he felt alive again. Gods, Phil had just breathed life into him, hadn’t he? 

“You are loved by everything around you,” is all Phil said to the moon before turning away and tending to the flowers in his garden once more. 

“Thank you,” whispered Dan, eyes so wide and so full of admiration for this being he’d feared for so long. 

When he returned to his pool of galaxy that evening, he was sure to tell all his stars, comets, and planets all about his adventure in daytime, about the lovely flowers, and about the lovely sun. And just before he was about to let sleep consume his being, he decided to add a new colour to his galaxy, one that he’d never thought to include before now. Thinking back to the clear picture he’d painted for himself of Phil’s eyes in his mind, Dan touched his finger to the swirl of stars, watching closely as ocean blue mingled beautifully with the rest. 

—

Dan was thriving over the next long while, his magic feeling stronger and his eyes appearing brighter. As he’d slept for the short time after meeting Phil, he’d dreamt of easy going blue birds gliding through the daytime sky and the warmth of Phil’s smile, his eyes, his gentle hands. When he’d awoken on his bed of clouds, pulling his silk blanket up to his chin and opening his eyes to the broad and beautiful universe above him, he’d thought of how wonderful this all was. 

The universe was so beautiful, so entrancing and magical that Dan wanted to drown in it’s embrace. Everything Dan felt was a blessing, every emotion of pain, and love, and want. He couldn’t imagine not being able to feel these thing for everything around him– couldn’t imagine a life without the stars, the mist, the sun. Oh gods, the sun! He was so lovely and kind to Dan. The latter wanted to see him again soon and never take his eyes off of his pale skin, black hair, and sparkling ocean eyes. He wanted to memorize every freckle on his skin, every laugh line on his face, every curve and edge of his body. And maybe Dan was getting a bit ahead of himself, but he felt so alive and so thankful. He wanted to show everyone just how appreciative he was of the sun. 

So when the time came, he focused all his positive and blissful energy on making the skies the most wonderful thing any human down there could ever imagine. He mixed purples and blues, silvers and golds, bright and dull stars of all kind. He wanted to showcase all the love he held, and he definitely succeeded. He could imagine even the saddest of souls on Earth taking out their paints and brushes to immortalize his work, making a masterpiece from a masterpiece. 

It was quite some time later now, and Dan still couldn’t stop thinking about how lovely being truly happy felt. Of course, the effects of his kiss had began to wear off since Dan had last seen Phil, but they were still nowhere near being gone just yet. Dan was so tempted to travel back to the garden where Phil spent his time and express his gratitude, but how desperate would that seem? He already leached off of Phil for his bright light to cast on the moon each night, so maybe asking Phil to share his entire aura would be a bit too much, and Dan didn’t want to overstep his bounds. 

But at the same time, he didn’t want this wave of emotional euphoria to fade back into the melancholy nothingness he was used to. He couldn’t let that happen in fear of never feeling that warmth again. He needed that warmth. 

So it was a snap decision that made Dan begin his trek back to Phil, following the neat path until it was once again lined by rows of colourful flowers, their illusive roots hidden beneath the cloud floor. As night morphed into day and cold colours became warm, his mind was lost its own little universe, one where he could always be happy and entranced by the little things. The way Phil had made him feel was awfully pleasant, a feeling that Dan wanted to chase and chase until he couldn’t run any longer. 

When he reached the gardens entrance, that strange anxious fear creeped back up his spine and chilled his pale skin, leaving him with the irrational thoughts that Phil might not welcome him as easily the second time around. 

His eyes immediately flew to the sun as he entered the area, the man in question busy tending to wonderfully vibrant plants and speaking gently to fluttering butterflies. His back turned to Dan, the latter cleared his throat quietly, luckily catching the ear and eyes of Phil as he turned around to greet the moon. 

“Dan,” he spoke kindly, his lips tugging up into a warm grin. “How’re you?”

Dan returned his smile with a brightness he wasn’t aware he was capable of, waving his hand in greeting. “Hi, Phil. I'm actually really good.” Phil gestured for him to come sit at the small table with him, to which Dan complied. “And you?”

They were both being overly polite, that he knew, but Dan was mostly afraid that if he didn’t butter him up before asking his next question then Phil might not react so kindly.

“It’s a lovely day today, so I’m happy,” Phil answered, leaning his chin in the palm of his hand, his elbow digging into the soft vine tabletop. 

Everything about Phil looked so beautiful and filled with magic, even the most plain and simple of actions coming across as graceful when performed by him. His hair, though black, seemed to shimmer against the pleasant brightness of the gardens atmosphere, his soft skin and blue eyes appearing more angelic than Dan thought possible, though with Phil, anything suddenly seemed possible. 

And on the subject of possibilities, Dan felt the pressing urge to ask Phil about that feeling he’d made him feel, in the hopes and chance that he might be able to experience it again. 

“This is rather blunt, and I’m sorry, but do you think you could do it again?” He asked, perhaps being a bit too wrapped up in his head and forgetting to give Phil any context to his question. 

The aforementioned gave him a curious look, eyebrows raised in a teasing way. “Do what again? I’m not quite following,” he chuckled. 

Dan inwardly cursed himself for being so eager, but he’d already started, so why stop now?

“You know, the thing you did that made me feel happy all the time. You kissed my forehead and I wasn’t sad anymore,” Dan reminded him, bouncing on his seat a bit in muted excitement. He just wanted to feel that full of life again– he didn’t ever want to go back to feeling low. 

Phil’s eyes were sceptical before he broke out into another grin, this one somehow brighter than the last. “My kiss isn’t magical, Dan. That was all you. That’s just what feeling happy is like.”

The moon frowned, looking down at his hands in confusion as a million and one thoughts ran through his head. That didn’t make sense, how could it be ‘all him’? He’d been happy before, sure, but it had never felt like that. Phil must’ve been lying, trying to downplay his power over Dan. There was no way he hadn’t had some sort of mystical influence on him. 

“But– no! You must’ve had something to do with it,” he protested. “You took the sadness away.”

Phil gave him warm eyes and reached his hand across the table, tangling his fingers easily with Dan’s. Truly, Dan was like putty in Phil’s hands, it was almost as if he had him under a spell of some sort. 

“I might’ve had something to do with it, but it wasn’t any sort of magic. You were just experiencing true happiness, love,” he explained, his voice gentle as if not to break Dan. 

“But you took the sadness away,” he repeated, his voice resting just above a whisper as he rivaled Phil’s warm eyes with his own sad ones. If what he’d been experiencing wasn’t an effect of Phil’s doing, then how could he ever feel it again? What if it’d been a complete fluke and Dan would never be truly happy once more for as long as he lived, which of course would be torturously long. He’d gotten a taste, and now he wanted more, but . . . What if that wasn’t an option?

“All I want to do is take the sadness away from you, Dan, that’s all I want,” Phil whispered, squeezing his hand tightly. “I can try, if you’d like,” he offered. 

Phil looked hopeful, and though Dan was pretty much feeling the exact opposite, those words seemed to fill him with a warmth not far off from the aftermath of his kiss, and he couldn’t let that go, could he?

After mumbling an “okay”, Phil stood from his seat and moved to kneel before Dan, who had in turn swiveled to face him in his chair. Their eyes met again in that same wonderful rush, the ocean of Phil’s irises swirling and mingling with minuscule flecks of yellow as he looked at Dan’s own golden brown ones with something akin to affection gathering in their depths. 

Dan closed his eyes as Phil leaned forward and pressed a soft kiss to his forehead, unable to conceal the easy smile that fell from his lips. 

“Thank you,” he said as Phil met him at eye level once more.

“Can you do me a favour, Dan?”

Dan nodded lazily, beginning to feel that lovely surge of warmth spread throughout his veins. 

“Don’t stop coming by.”

—

He didn’t.

It was becoming a quite common occurrence that Dan would find himself abandoning the responsibilities of his night sky in exchange for spending plenty of well spent time in Phil’s garden. 

There had been days where they’d meet and talk for hours and hours without end, about everything they’d seen and heard on Earth below them and anything even mildly worth sharing. There were other days where they’d sit amongst the branches of the green willow tree, lounging lazily against the soft bark and exchanging no words between them. There were days when they spoke in body language and soft smiles rather than actual words, for sometimes audible sentences were unnecessary in order to express how they felt in each other’s easy company. 

Every now and then, they’d wind up pressed against one another, Phil’s back leant against the tree’s trunk while Dan’s back lay pressed against his chest, gentle palms running over clothed sides and landing over his stomach to rest. He’d grown all too used to the smell of flowers and the feeling of hot breath on his neck and hair, pale hands tangled in his curly brown locks. 

And maybe Dan’s favourite part of his new routine, the soft and innocent kisses. Phil never let him leave without first pressing his lips to Dan’s forehead or cheek, sometimes even both. It was as if it was Phil’s new mission was to make the moon happier than ever before, and Dan was always sure to remind him just how happy he was. 

The only times he ever felt even the slightest bit sad were as he lay back in his bed of clouds, leaning slightly over the side to swirl his hand through the miniature pool of galaxy he’d grown to love as his own child, looking down with sleepy eyes at the colourful whirlpool of golds and purples and thinking that it must be lonely down there with light years separating you from the closest star. But then again, there was also so much magic to be found, so much love and energy. 

So much beauty that was made even more beautiful when Phil occasionally visited Dan’s nighttime sky, complimenting and praising his hard work until he was forced to find some way to shut him up. 

And the worst part was, Dan was beginning to think that maybe he was starting to fall in love with the sun. 

Being with him brewed emotions of affection and endearment deep in Dan’s heart, so many overwhelming feelings bubbling and pressing at his chest and wanting him to say something, say anything. But he couldn’t, because what if it ruined them? He’d seen too many hearts broken down on Earth to want to risk breaking his own. 

Regardless, he was confident that what he felt was love and nothing but. It was like a more intense rush of adoration than he felt for even his entire carefully crafted nighttime universe, and that was what scared him. 

Love wasn’t something he often felt other than for his stars and galaxies. It was something he kept buried down below his rationality and reason, the two things that tended to keep him and every other little human down on Earth safe, but Phil was well on his way to removing those barriers completely, and Dan didn’t know whether that was a good thing or a very, very bad thing. 

Either way, though, it was how he felt, and it wasn’t like he could just cut himself off from someone as important and wonderful as Phil. He just couldn’t tell him.

It was currently one of those days where they were sat across from one another at Phil’s little table, perched on the edges of their seats in order to be as close to each other as possible as they sipped away at warm tea and giggled fondly at whatever silly story the other was trying to tell. 

“Some clouds are just so rude!” Phil laughed, glaring accusingly at the small wisp of cloud he’d just manifested in his palm before blowing it away. “What about your stars?” He asked. “Are they well behaved?”

Dan grinned, shaking his head before covering his face with his two palms, eyes peeking up above the tips of his fingers. “Oh, you witnessed me chasing my one of my damn comets, what do you think?” 

Still laughing, phil stuck his tongue between his teeth, a subconscious habit of his that Dan had noticed some time ago. 

“Right.”

“Speaking of stars, I should actually get going back to mine right about now,” Dan said with a sad smile, moving his hands from his face and standing up. 

Phil stood too, a bit quickly for his usually laid back attitude. “Wait.” Dan turned, confused but delighted nevertheless. Oh, right. His kiss. 

As always, when Phil approached him –looking rather flustered and red, mind you– he closed his eyes, waiting to feel the gentle press of Phil’s lips to his skin. But this time, unlike he’d expected, he didn’t feel them on his forehead or his cheek, but somewhere else entirely. 

At the sensation of Phil’s mouth on his own, Dan felt no other instinct than to press back, the unexpected kiss a delight that Dan had been wanting ever since he’d learned what this feeling he felt for the sun was. 

Moving his hands up to tangle in Phil’s raven hair, Dan pressed himself greedily against him, craving the warmth and comfort that radiated in soft yellow waves from his body. He felt Phil’s arms wrap around his waist, felt the tentative press of hands on his lower back and the light feeling of Phil’s breath on his lips as the two pulled away. 

Dan had never been kissed before, and he was willing to bet Phil hadn’t either, but out of all the things he’d experienced and felt with his own cold skin, this was by far the most magical. 

Phil’s slow hands moved up to cup his jaw, his own hands remaining against the sun’s scalp, playing with the strands of soft hair and tugging gently. Phil was smiling so brightly, a smile that Dan was sure he was matching if not outshining, his dimples no doubt on show. 

“You’re wonderful,” whispered Phil, his ocean eyes portraying the same message as his lips. 

Dan felt a heat crawl up his neck and onto his cheeks as he grinned at the sun. “You’re amazing.”

“Shut up,” he laughed.

They stayed with their arms wrapped around each other for a short while more, neither of them wanting to move, before Dan was reminded that he needed to visit his galaxies before their inhabitants began to think they were being forgotten, a card they liked to play all too often. 

It was fine though, Dan both wanted and needed to gush to someone about that magical first kiss, and seeing as he and Phil were the only two human-like beings in the clouds, that didn’t really leave him with many other options. Besides, his shooting stars and colourful planets always listened. 

“Phil kissed me on the lips,” he spoke dreamily as he hung over the edge of the clouds, addressing every celestial being in the pools of gold and lavender below him. 

He imagined the constellations response; a quietly chiming chorus of “what was it like?”’s. 

“Absolutely lovely.”

Down on Earth, Vincent Van Gogh began painting ‘Starry Night’.

—

Maybe it’d been years, or decades, or perhaps merely a few nights on Earth, but each moment he spent with Phil only worked towards making him fall more and more deeply in love with the sun. 

He hadn’t known it was possible to be so enamoured by a single person, so entranced by everything they did, and yet here he was. There wasn’t a single detail about Phil that Dan wasn’t completely in love with, from his laughter and the way he said Dan’s name to his gorgeous smile and stunning ocean eyes. Dan loved him more than his own existence and and he wasn’t even sure if Phil could reciprocate. 

At the very least, they hadn’t stopped being touchy with each other. 

Since that first real kiss in Phil’s garden, they’d found themselves making out plenty of times, even when they probably should’ve been doing things more productive like actually taking care of their skies. Needless to say, there’d been a lot of starless nights lately, but this time it wasn’t because Dan was upset, rather because his mind was too caught up thinking about Phil to bother displaying any. 

So as a result, he’d come up with a system to avoid causing suspicion amongst the humans down on Earth; take care of the sky first, kiss the sun later. For the most part, it really did work. He hadn’t missed a single nighttime in ages, and he hadn’t missed being with Phil either. 

Now was one of those ‘kiss the sun later times’, Dan thought, annoyed as he sat by the edge of his little galaxy stirring the stars as Phil sat by his side, watching in awe. 

“It’s really beautiful, what you do,” he complimented quietly, leaning his head on Dan’s shoulder for a moment before leaning away again. 

Dan thirsted after that brief touch, the little bit of contact with Phil having sent shocks across his skin like always. “Thank you,” he whispered back. 

He spun the universe with the tips of his fingers for a short while longer, watching the little stars dance about before retracting his hand and moving it to find Phil’s, their fingers quickly intertwining together. 

“You see that colour right there?” Dan asked, using his free hand to point at a large and pigmented swirl of ocean blue in the pool. Phil nodded, looking at Dan with blue eyes to match. “The first night after we met, I added that. It’s the shade of your eyes,” he admitted shyly, a warm blush creeping up his neck. 

Looking back up at Phil, he saw what he was nearly certain must’ve been love. That's how he imagined he looked at Phil, his eyes full of warmth and adoration, his lips curved upwards. He wanted to kiss those lips right now. 

“Dan . . .” Phil began. “You’re so wonderful, you know that?”

Dan laughed, leaning into Phil’s side and bumping his shoulder playfully. “Yeah, you remind me enough every five minutes.” Phil joined in on the easy laughter, pushing playfully at Dan’s side before the aforementioned pulled him to his feet with a groan of protest. “Come on, I need a nap.”

“You know, for someone who controls the night, you sure do require a lot of sleep,” Phil mocked as Dan dragged him over to lie on his fluffy bed of clouds. 

Lying down with their fingers still tangled and his head tucked sleepily between Phil’s shoulder and neck, Dan moved to wrap his free arm around his side, pulling him in just that little bit closer. 

With a gentle hand smoothing through the curls atop his head and the steady beat of Phil’s heart against his chest, Dan took this as an opportunity to think about how he felt for the man he shared the clouds with. 

He loved him, that much he knew, but what did that even mean? In an infinite universe where they were the only two people they’d ever come into contact with, what good was falling in love? Sure, it felt good to be happy, but Dan had seen so many relationships turn awry on Earth from his spot in the clouds. That could happen to him. He didn’t want to wind up like one of the too many broken-hearted souls down below, their despair only leading them to do stupid and misguided things. 

The last thing he’d want was to wedge an invisible knife between the two of them if that’s what admitting love would bring. Phil was the only one who knew him as more than a grey orb in the sky, he was the only one who made him feel like everything he did each night was worth something. He couldn’t lose that– not if he wanted to do more than just survive up there. 

Then again, he didn’t know entirely that Phil wouldn’t one day decide that they didn’t fit together and leave. Go back to his garden, stick with his old routine, tell Dan to stay away. 

Thinking about this caused a sharp jolt of pain in his chest, the concept of Phil wanting nothing to do with him making him feel a little nauseous. 

It would make sense though, they had nothing in common besides being lonely, and that didn’t exactly make them a good match. 

Dan swallowed thickly, gripping onto Phil’s hand even tighter than before. 

“You okay?” He asked, free hand carding through Dan’s hair soothingly. Phil cared, he wouldn’t leave– Dan just had to remember that. 

The latter nodded against Phil’s neck, taking a shaky breath before continuing. “We share nothing in common, do we? We’re nothing alike.”

Phil moved to wrap his arm around Dan too, pulling him in tight and neglecting to let go. “What are you talking about, love?” He asked calmly. 

Dan squeezed his eyes shut tightly. “I’m the moon, and you’re the sun. All I do is leech off of your brightness, I don’t do anything for you,” he whispered. 

“You make me happy. Isn’t that enough?” Phil protested, his voice much stronger than Dan’s. 

Maybe, but maybe not. 

“But we don’t share anything. We’re polar opposites, and what if it’s better that we stay that way?” Asked Dan slowly, his voice shaky with the fear of Phil potentially agreeing. If that’s what he wanted then Dan would give it to him, but he wouldn’t be prepared. 

Phil abruptly pulled away from Dan, enough so that he could now look right into his once again sad brown eyes. 

“Is that what you want?” He asked, his voice now a lot more weak than it had previously been. Maybe Phil had been worried too– maybe Dan wasn’t alone. 

The moon was quick to shake his head no as his eyes widened and his pulse hurried. How could Phil ever think that? “No! Of course not!”

Phil closed his eyes for a moment, his breathing slowing back to a normal pace. 

“Good. Because we do share a lot, actually. We share rain, and clouds, and lightning. Not to mention, I literally couldn’t exist without you, Dan.”

Nodding slowly, Dan soaked in the sun’s truthful words. He was right, but that little negative bit of Dan still wanted him to believe that Phil could never love him. He was just afraid of that bit winning against his common sense. 

“Why would you even think that?” Asked Phil, eyebrows furrowed. 

Dan closed his eyes again, taking a deep breath before reopening them. “Because we do this thing where we see each other, we kiss, and we make each other feel happy, but . . . I don’t know how we can continue this when the only thing bringing us together, really, are our roles in the universe. I’m just scared, I guess,” he admitted. 

Phil seemed taken aback by what Dan had had to say as he stayed quiet for a few long moments, his silence only deepening the worry in Dan’s stomach. When Phil looked at him again, it was with tears brimming in his eyes and a frown etched into the lines of his forehead. “Dan . . . Don’t you understand how I feel about you?” He asked, squeezing their fingers. “You’re my moon, and I don’t just need you, I want you, too. You’re so beautiful and full of life, every single thing you do makes me want to hold you close and never let you go. I just wanna keep you safe and happy.” Phil paused, smiling a bit. “I . . . I love you, Dan. I wanna be with you forever.”

The younger was nearly on the verge of tears as well now, quickly swiping at his eyes as if to hide that. 

Phil loved him? Phil actually, genuinely loved him? Dan wanted to cry. No, he thought he might actually start sobbing. He wasn’t alone, he wasn’t the only one with feelings, he was loved. 

He giggled, the sound belittled by his oncoming tears, but a happy sound nevertheless. Gods, he was so happy. Phil loved him! 

“I really, really love you, Phil. Like, more than anything else,” he cried, looking across at those beautiful ocean eyes he adored so much. 

Phil pulled him back into his chest, letting go of his hand to wrap two strong arms around his frame and burying his nose in the fluff of Dan’s curls. 

And as they lay there, content with their pure happiness and wonderful company, the sun began to shine brighter, the moon latching onto that light and displaying it proudly for all the world to see. The stars were dancing around, constellations more luminescent than ever and galaxies brighter and far more pigmented than before. And for the first time in a long time, the morning sky was completely golden, the sun having shared his happiness with the cheery atmosphere around him, for if he didn’t he feared he might just explode. 

They’d both watched Earth, seen friends, seen love, seen disaster. But somehow they both knew that this wasn’t that kind of love, that kind of passion. This was just them in their own little world weaved from adoration and magic, a world they’d be fine to live in forever. 

And so they would, Dan knew they would. Because that’s what you do when you love someone. And oh boy, did the moon ever love the sun.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading !! (Maybe reblog on tumblr (@ordanary) ?) As always, kudos and comments are really appreciated. Thanks again, I hope you have a lovely day <3


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